Evergreen sidewalk project takes next step

It’s been a long walk already, but the Evergreen community-driven sidewalk project is still marching on.

The survey phase of the project to build sidewalks along U.S. 2 between Montana 35 and Sunset Drive has been completed by KLJ, the engineering firm selected by the Montana Department of Transportation.

KLJ has finished the topographic survey, environmental engineering report, and has assessed the site for hazardous materials traffic noise and air quality. The firm has also begun preliminary design on sidewalk and curb layout.

According to Evergreen Chamber of Commerce President Daren Engellant, the next step is for the firm to report their findings to MDT and come up with an estimate for construction costs. The department will then choose a construction firm to carry out the project.

Engellant says he hopes that the project will break ground next spring or summer.

“It’s in the hands of MDT,” Engellant said. “If it were in my hands I’d fast track it, but government agencies operate at their own speed.”

The construction will be paid for by a grant of nearly $1 million from MDT, using federal transportation funds. The application also required a portion of the funds to be matched by the applicants, which presented a new challenge because Evergreen is not incorporated as a town with a tax base to tap into.

To get the project approved, the community groups backing the sidewalk idea, including the chamber, had to get county approval and find an ongoing funding source for maintenance.

To pay for the obligated matching portion of construction and ongoing maintenance costs, two new tax districts were established with the consent of an overwhelming majority of the 61 property-owners along the affected stretch of highway. Most properties along the section of road are commercial, and those business owners saw the benefits that a sidewalk would provide to their bottom-lines, as well as to the community as a whole, said Engellant.

Taxes for the districts were assessed by the length of proposed sidewalk in front of each property, and according to Engellant, the average property owner in the new district will pay around $3,000 over 20 years for the initial construction costs, and about $300 per year for upkeep.

The project is also of great importance to the many students who walk and bike every day to and from Evergreen Junior High, said district Superintendent Laurie Barron. Because the district is too small to receive school bus funding, kids who don’t get a ride to school are forced to contend with dangerous weather conditions and traffic buzzing by at high speeds on the busy thoroughfare.

Engellant estimates the number of vehicles using the stretch of highway at up to 20,000 per day, often traveling in excess of 40 miles per hour.

When conditions on the side of the road deteriorate, Barron said, students often end up walking on the shoulder of the road itself, which can be even more dangerous than the icy footpath that forms on the other side of the curb.

“Having sidewalks would give students a true safe path,” Barron said. “Our goal is to have sidewalks in all directions [from the school].”

Reporter Adrian Knowler can be reached at aknowler@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4407.